Well I'm in the middle of the salt treatment for ich in my live planted aquarium. I was forced to remove every plant and put it in a temperary storage tank since the plants started to melt away from the salt. I put the one plastic plant I own in the tank leaving the tank pretty barren. My fish now tend to group at the bottom and go crazy whenever someone walks near the tank. My thought is that the fish don't feel safe in such a barren tank after they were used to it being heavily planted. Tommorow is going to be day 3 after the last spot dissapeared so I could start doing my water changes tommorow evening to remove the salt though I prefer going for 5 days before taking the salt out. Any economical way to make the fish feel more safe while I get the tank back to normal to re-add the plants?
Making Fish Feel More Safe
- Thread starter rrkss
- Start date
I know this sounds silly, rrkss, but I had a friend who used tupperware bowls (i have some blue ones) and cut caves, etc out for her hermit crabs. Same idea should work for fish in the meantime. I thought about the edges so I cut one just now to see if it would hurt the fish and as long as you do a smooth cut, its not sharp or jagged.
I have the little plastic/ceramic hiding decorations like treasure chests, sunken ships for $8 or $9 dollars at petsmart. (semi-economical I guess).
Maybe?
I have the little plastic/ceramic hiding decorations like treasure chests, sunken ships for $8 or $9 dollars at petsmart. (semi-economical I guess).
Maybe?
Its funny you mention that - I do that with my betta. I turn his light off around 7pm after dinner, but we are in and out of the kitchen and I noticed he gets kind of jumpy when our light goes on, so I cover him like a bird at night. I guess he likes it - can't see through the towel. (ha,ha) :joke:
I don't think the sheet idea sounds silly at all.
When I first started I used plastic plants and have a drawer full of them. I find I end up pulling them out now and then for those types of occurences like you are having, or if I have a really skittish fish in a QT or hospital tank -- one that needs something to hide in or behind. Makes them less stressed during the QT period if they have something to make them feel comfortable. I sterilize them when I'm done so that the next fish can use them.
Might be a good idea to watch for sales on fake plants and just start collecting cheap ones to use when the need arises.
Roan
When I first started I used plastic plants and have a drawer full of them. I find I end up pulling them out now and then for those types of occurences like you are having, or if I have a really skittish fish in a QT or hospital tank -- one that needs something to hide in or behind. Makes them less stressed during the QT period if they have something to make them feel comfortable. I sterilize them when I'm done so that the next fish can use them.
Might be a good idea to watch for sales on fake plants and just start collecting cheap ones to use when the need arises.
Roan
I love that idea, Roan. I have a few from my other smaller tanks and have thought about throwing them out because I would never put them in a big tank. I will keep them for instances just like what rrkss is going through. I can mail some to you, rrkss!
I will definately look out for any cheap plants as they are useful. I will just stick to the sheet idea as that is a quick way to fix the problem. Tommorow evening, I will start my first water change to take the salt out. That will be a 33% waterchange lowering the salt content to 2 teaspoons per gallon. I will then keep up with the waterchanges everyday until my hydrometer reads 1/4 teaspoons per gallon and then I will add my plants back into the main tank. I will probably have to throw out half the anacharis since they look horrible (no problem though as I can make cuttings to quickly restock back to my old plantload). My vallisneria which was huge and very bushy melted away and now looks frivelous with only about 3 tiny leaves on it. Hopefully it will bounce back. My amazon sword does not look so majestic anymore but still is alive with all its leaves. My banana plant yellowed up a little bit but is still alive. Probably the plants got stressed from being transferred from a healthy high light co2 injected tank to a small cramped low light storage container. I hope that these plant do bounce back as this tank was the pride of my tanks and looks very barren at the moment.
Anytime I need to remove fish and move them into plastic bags I cover them with a towel. My theory is that it's just like night time in their tank and they will feel more safe.